Ilya Salmanzadeh
Ilya Salmanzadeh awarded STIM's Platinum Guitar 2021
“I am very honored and grateful to receive the Platinum Guitar 2021. To be a part of the incredible lineup of songwriters who received this award in the past is just awesome. A big shoutout to the entire STIM crew and thank you for the important work you do for us songwriters”, says Ilya Salmanzadeh.
It all started when the eleven-year-old Ilya discovered a music program in a cereal box. Today, he is one of Sweden’s most successful music creators, and he wrote and produced music for such artists as Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake, Ellie Goulding, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber. Among the songs he has co-written and produced is “Problem” with Ariana Grande, reaching second place on Billboard Hot 100, and “Love Me Like You Do” with Ellie Goulding, a number one hit in more than 25 countries. His ten biggest hits have been played 8 billion times on Spotify altogether.“It is exceptional as a jury to agree on something as fast as we did with Ilya. Well-crafted songwriting on this level is not easy to find. But Ilya does it, over and over again”, says Ika Johannesson, member of the Plainum Guitar jury.
Ilya was born in 1986 and joined STIM in 2005. After studies at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, he made his first international song release in 2010 – “Miss Me” with Mohombi and Nelly. Ilya Samanzadeh received the award “Composer Of The Year” at Musikförläggarnas Pris in 2019 and was acknowledged as “Producer Of The Year” at the Swedish Grammy's in 2020.